New Hampshire High Court Finds Death Penalty Constitutional

In an Oct. 28, 2008 file photo, defendant Michael Addison talks with a member of the gallery during a break in the capital murder trial of Addison in the death of Manchester Bicycle Police Officer Michael Briggs.

Associated Press

The New Hampshire Supreme Court has upheld both the conviction of the state’s only death-row inmate and the constitutionality of the state’s death-penalty-law.

In a 243-page, highly anticipated ruling, the five-judge court unanimously rejected a host of arguments made by lawyers of Michael Addison, who was convicted in 2006 of murdering a Manchester, N.H., police officer. Mr. Addison, 33 years old, shot officer Michael Briggs while

Mr. Briggs was attempting to arrest Mr. Addison in connection with a number of armed robberies.

“With respect to the issues raised by the defendant on appeal, we find no reversible error,” wrote the court in its unsigned opinion. “Accordingly, we affirm the defendant’s conviction for capital murder.”

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